Friday 9 December Altrincham
Electric Railway Preservation SocietyChange
of programme due to illness: John
Hilton will be showing his black and white pictures (in digital format)
of steam at work in the Manchester and Stockport areas in the 1950s.

Saturday 10 December Rhyl and
District Model Railway Exhibition,
annual charity exhibition, to raise funds for Ty Gobaith Childrens
Hospice. Held at Parish Hall, top of Central Car Park, Prestatyn,
a
short walk from the station.

Monday 19 December RCTS
Chester
Members Evening:30 slides or digital images of your choice.
Please
advise Alan Donaldson if you intend to make a presentation and to what
format you will be using.

January
2012

Friday 6 January Clwyd Railway
Circle
Brian Roberts: Reflections of the 1990s, Brian’s presentation
will
visit many different locations across the national network, with some
emphasis on the Merseyside area, in an attempt to portray a decade of
considerable change. Passenger operating companies will be
reviewed,
largely via their ever changing liveries, and there will be glimpses of
some of our preserved lines. The freight scene will be recalled, too,
not least by showing images taken on freight only lines, at industrial
plants and at several collieries prior to closure.

Monday 9 January. Wrexham
Railway
Society The Many Varied Railways of Australia . Geoff
Morris will show the great variety of rail action Down
Under.

Monday 16 January RCTS Chester Barry
Shore: Terminus Part 3
Barry continues his Terminus series, this time off the Network, The
Preservation Scene and offshore including the Isle of Man and Ireland.

Saturday 21 January Stephenson
Locomotive
Society
Area A G M followed by: Professor Colin
Divall - Down the
American Road? Industrial Research on the LMS, 1923-1947 The Big Four
are often criticised for an over-reliance on traditional forms of
engineering. However by the late 1930s the LMS had developed a sizeable
Research Department dealing with a wide range of technical problems.
This talk examines the Department's origins and activities, and asks
how successful it was.

Friday 3 February Clwyd Railway
Circle
Geoff Morris: Australian Railways Today. A digital presentation of
Geoff's visits to Australia in 2009 and 2010 featuring main line and
preserved steam in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and
Queensland and also a look at the some of the modern scene.

Monday 13 February. Wrexham
Railway
Society
Sixties Steam on Steam - Barry Shore will give a digital presentation
based on his b&w negatives from the 60s with shed visits around the
UK and the final days of steam at Lostock Hall.

Saturday 18 February Stephenson
Locomotive
Society
Bob Barnard The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway – Then
& Now.
From 1898 this well-equipped 2 foot gauge line climbed into the
foothills of Exmoor, initially independent but later under the
Southern Railway, until its sudden closure in 1935. Since 2004,
trains
have run on a section again. Bob Barnard, a local L&B
enthusiast
and North West group organiser, will tell the line's story in pictures
old and new.

Monday 20 February RCTS
Chester Stephen Gay: Walking the line, discovering lost
railways. Stephen travels from Sheffield with a slide
show on walking old railways with his faithful German Shepherd
dog
Wrawby. The show includes the S&D, Scarborough to Whitby, rambling
in Scotland to glorious Devon plus a very varied local selection

A deep blue sky complements the Arriva livery of 57 314 passing
Abergele with the (SO) 08.50 Euston-Holyhead on 12 November (Larry
Goddard)

Units to the fore

A look at some of the Diesel Multiple Unit trains which are the
mainstay of North Wales passenger services, but often get overshadowed
in these pages by the few locomotive-hauled workings. Above, on 17
November, 175 111 passes Bagillt as the 10:33 Holyhead -
Cardiff (Tim Rogers).

Refurbished 158 820 arrives at Bangor with the 11:23 Holyhead
to Birmingham International on 19 November (Rowan Crawshaw).

Unusually pressed into service on a long-distance journey, 150 253
departs Bangor with the 05:10 Cardiff to Holyhead on 19 November (Rowan
Crawshaw).

Stone trains

Direct Rail Services loco 66 416 accelerates away from a signal
check at Abergele with a mid-afternoon ballast working from Penmaenmawr
on 18 November (Larry Goddard).

While Abergele was bathed in sunlight, the view eastwards wasn't so
bright as Abergele's signalman turns out to watch the progress of the
train (Larry Goddard).

The scene at Penmaenmawr quarry on 26 October as 66 953 takes its train
through the loader (Eifion Hughes).

A telephoto view of the same scene, also by Eifion Hughes, who
tells us he has not been well enough to get out and about recently: we
wish him all the best.

Lakeside Santa

The Bala Lake Railway will be running 'Santa Trains' on Saturday
10 and Sunday 11 December, promising 'push-me-pull-you' steam
engines on a trip to the Lake of Serenity to visit Santa at his Grotto.
There's a present for every young child, and mince pies and drinks for
everyone else. Full details on the railway's web
site.

The fire in 175 110 - update

In the first version of our last issue we suggested, based on comments
from the local fire brigade, that the cause of the fire under 175 110
on 10 November at Manchester Piccadilly was due to a leak of hydraulic
fluid, similar to the fire in 175 008 at Preston in 2004, but this is
not so; following that incident
the hydraulic pipework around the gearbox was modified on all
units so that
if it became pierced there would be no oil spray.

Investigation of the fire in 175 110 have found that a component
failure caused a small fire confined to the area between the belly pan
and the
engine block. Early suggestions are that the train will be back in use
in a few
weeks.

Getting the Treatment

The Rail Head Treatment Train, headcode 3S71, with its pair or Class
97/3 (alias Class 37) locos is popular with our contributors. Here's
another selection of the work. Above, 97 302 heads the train through
Valley on 31 October (M.Lloyd Davies) ...

... with 97 304John Tiley on the rear (M.Lloyd
Davies).

1 November, and the train is seen on the Stanley Embankment connecting
Holy Island with the Anglesey mainland (M.Lloyd Davies).

The high-pressure water jets are in action as the train starts the
climb out of Holyhead on 5 November (M.Lloyd Davies).

Llanfairyneubwll, 5 November (M.Lloyd Davies). See the left
column for a close-up from this view.

Only a few more weeks left now with the RHTT, which normally runs until
the timetable change in early December. The Autumn colours are really
beginning to show now, making photography just that little bit more
colourful, as 97 302 with 97 303 on the rear passes Llandudno Junction
with the return 3S71 Holyhead to Crewe Saturday 19 November (Garry
Stroud).

Beating Beeching at Llangollen

Details are to hand of two forthcoming 30-minute programmes of interest
on BBC TV Wales, entitled 'Beating Beeching.'

Programme 1, 'Beating Beeching - A Passion for Steam' will
be shown on Tuesday 6 December at 19:30 on BBC 2 Wales
(duration 30 mins.) 'The steam railways of Wales seemed lost forever
with the Beeching cuts
of the 1960s but this series celebrates their revival with wonderful
colour archive film combined with the memories of passengers and
railwaymen from the age of steam. This week we meet a schoolboy driver,
station master, firemen and holidaymakers who share a passion for steam
with the volunteers at Llangollen Railway.'

Programme 2, 'Beating Beeching - Steam's Glorious Past' is on
Tuesday 13 December at 19:30 on BBC 2 Wales (duration 30 mins.)
'The steam railways of Wales seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts
of the 1960s but this series celebrates their revival with wonderful
colour archive film combined with the memories of passengers and
railwaymen from the age of steam. This week we meet a schoolboy driver,
station master, firemen and holidaymakers who share a passion for steam
with the volunteers at Llangollen Railway.'

Viewers outside Wales and its immediate borderlands will be able to
watch these shows on the iPlayer, or via Sky, but sadly not on Freeview
or Virgin Media cable channels. (Bob Hargreaves adds: this
programme will be available on Freesat and other free to air
transmissions from Astra 28.2. For freesat outside Wales just put
in any Welsh postcode, Free to Air is always available.)

Holyhead views - by M. Lloyd Davies

Some views from the Holyhead area taken on 31 October, the day 67
030 worked to Holyhead with Pathfinder Tours' 'Majestic Snowdonian'
from Bristol.

After a quick run round ...

... 67 030 was ready to take the stock out of Platform 1 for servicing
...

... and for its own refuelling ...

... at the Holyhead stabling point.

Collecting the coaches, as a Virgin train to London formed of two
'Voyager' units stands in Platform 1.

At the Cardiff Conference - report by Bob Hargreaves

I went to the event in Cardiff on 3 November organised by The
Association
of Community Rail Partnerships – ACoRP which included
the six rail partnerships in Wales. there was a mixed feeling at the
event which ran from 11:30a.m. to around 1.00 p.m. The Minister for
Wales Rail, Carl Sargent, attended and visited the six stands, however
he did not make the key note speech on the agenda we all expected, and
left after 20 minutes.

Among other attendees, were Senior Managers of ATW and The Community
relations Director/Executive of Network Rail. Although all AMs had been
invited to the event, the only two who turned up to support were both
North Wales AMs Mark Isherwood and Aled Roberts.

I am afraid confusion remains, but I did hear that ATW were given
disposition by National Rail, to delay the Dec 2011 timetables, due to
further delay in preparation of the "Strategic Review of Transport for
Wales" being undertaken by the Minister. This review was due in
Autumn, has this review is considering the future of the Open Access
'WAG Expresses their fate remains unknown, hence the timetable delay.
[We understand that since the meeting it has been agreed that the
timetable change will go ahead as planned, with the same
Government-sponsored services as in 2011 - C.H.]

I travelled down to Cardiff on ''WAG1 Gerald" from Chester, after
almost an hour on Chester station, as the only connection is the 06:04
from Wrexham for the 07:09 Cardiff Express. As usual the train emptied
of the majority of passengers at Crewe, and after Shrewsbury the
standard three coaches were half-filled, with only two in First. which
I counted when visiting the buffet. I Noted the 06:30 Virgin train to
Euston was full out of Chester, and the unit to form the 07:00 Wrexham
- Euston voyager passed through Chester at 06:35, stopping on platform
3 to pick up another staff member who got into the rear cab.

My return was the 14:50 two-car 175 towards Manchester Piccadiily, full
on arrival, and standing to Newport, the look of dismay can be seen on
passengers' faces when a two car turns up. After a 40-minute wait at
Shrewsbury, I caught the 17:24 three-car 175 for Holyhead as far as
Wrexham.

Adieu to Cargo-D

As reported here previously, the Cargo-D company, hirer of coaches and
operator or railtours, has been closed down by administrators who are
hoping to dispose of the company's assets, which include a fleet of Mk
3 and Mk2 coaches, mostly ex-Virgin Trains painted in British Rail's
blue and grey livery. A number of these vehicles appeared in the 'Three
Peaks by Rail' charity special of 23 June 2011, and were photographed
by M. Lloyd Davies at Holyhead. The company owned one Mk3
sleeping car, 10588, seen above, which was used for staff accommodation.

One of the fleet of Mk 3 vehicles, which were often see at one time on
the trains of Wrexham & Shropshire, another company now vanished.

This Mk 1 kitchen car became notorious as 2011 wore on, as problems
with it ('awaiting repair') were blamed for the cancellation of several
'Rail-Blue' railtours for which tickets had been sold, as the company
slid in to debt. Among the trains cancelled was one intended as a
memorial to the company's founder Mark Honey, who died in 2010.

One vehicle owned by Cargo-D at one time was Mk 2 coach 6124 which was
bought from Arriva Trains Wales as a source of spares, having been
damaged in the mishap at Rhymney in 2005 which also signed the death
warrant of popular loco 37 408 Loch Rannoch.